Happy New Year - The Future of our Club

[Isotel]

Happy New Year Everyone

i figured this is a good time to start some conversation regarding what Vic has been wanting to discuss regarding the Future of our club..

I havent realy got that much time to think about it exactly, but in a nut shell i Definatly want to see the club grow, Id love to see new members joining every week, and see some of the old members reinthused into getting back involved.. I know that for the most part we are a family type club, but id like to see younger members around my age joining and bringing with them new blood and ideas!

I think the only way to grow is to do some advertising!
Droping CLC cards on Cruisers/toyotas that we see in a parking lots,
Putting together a display w/Free issues of Toyota Trails in dealerships, or 4x4 shops.
Updating and revision of the website to offer more interactivity..


these are just some ideas, Please let us know what direction you would like to see the club go!

[Isotel]

an Example of what i was thinking about for Cards to Slap on trucks in parking lots..

[Uncle Ben]

Originally Posted by isotel

an Example of what i was thinking about for Cards to Slap on trucks in parking lots..

I like it! Great idea!

[2badfjs]

tons of toys in castle rock!!!!!!


oh, and i'm not joining

[Isotel]

Yep, there is an LOT of toyotas and Cruisers in Colorado Springs.. i see 1-2 40's every day!

[EricG]

Personally, it annoys the hell out of me when people put stuff on my vehicle in a parking lot. I'm sure I'm not alone. That may not be the first impression you want to make.

[Isotel]

Eric, Good point, but i only hate it when its Stupid Advertising.. this is just letting others know about our club.. i would be Stoked if i had just moved to a new town and found a card on my truck letting me know about the local 4x4 clubs!

Even if %10 of the people we put cards on actualy show up and join i think its effective! Remember we cant please everyone!

Please give us some input on any other ideas you have!

[Uncle Ben]

Originally Posted by isotel

Eric, Good point, but i only hate it when its Stupid Advertising.. this is just letting others know about our club.. i would be Stoked if i had just moved to a new town and found a card on my truck letting me know about the local 4x4 clubs!

Even if %10 of the people we put cards on actualy show up and join i think its effective! Remember we cant please everyone!

Please give us some input on any other ideas you have!

This technique does work! We (Rising Sun) did it for the Rally and if you remember back in the earlier days, Windy City became the biggest club in TLCA because of direct flyer advertising! Some folks will not like it but I think it will strike some interest in many. Even those who don't like it will retain the knowledge that there is a Toyota club in town!

[Man Jerk]

Trevor, I would say that is a great start.

I agree about the business cards. We may need to be more proactive about membership.

More people = more ideas.

I would also like to see more social kinda stuff. Especially working on trucks kinda stuff. That's one of my favorite parts of my other club is working on everybody's trucks. I alway's knew that If I had a project I could count on others to help me get it done. So If anyone ever needs some help let me know

It seems to me that there should be more of a relationship with Liberty Toyota. We can ask the TLCA for a case of Toyota Trails, which we can then provide to Liberty, or any other 4WD shops in town. Part of that is building relationships, and part of that is potential membership. Another thing the toyx4's always do is buy one of the Henry Brimmer Land Cruiser Calenders and bring them to dealerships we had relationships with.

[Isotel]

Keep the ideas Flowin Guys! Great stuff!

Mark, i agree,
#1 is we need to get membership up
#2 we need to keep them!

The Club meetings (although they are important) can be sort of bland, the club should be about wheeling, meeting people with similar interests, working on trucks, and having fun.. and the club meetings serve the purpous of making decisions, and planning these activity's!

Social activity's may not be for everyone, but are fun and i think thats where you can get to know your fellow Club members.

[nanuk]

We have used the cards before, not sure when, but it was a while back, and they may have been the TLCA ones. Seems like it was in the late 90's. Very good idea. I have more than once waited for people to come out to their Cruiser and introduce myself and the club.

We have driven people away in the past, you can't keep everyone happy. We need to find out what the interests are of new people in the club and steer them to the correct "inner group". We have always did our thing and expected people to follow. The meetings have driven some away, and the quote is always the same: "we spend more time in meetings than we do wheeling" While I would love to go do Indy several times every day, not all can afford it! Or enjoy it!

We also need to become more involved with the TLCA. Some newer chapters are MUCH more involved and get more people in areas that have far LESS Cruisers. (IE: Kentucky)
Not sure what we can do for a national run, but there should be something? While we don't have an area like Moab, Rubicon, Black Hills, or Telico, we could have a Marathon type of run where we would do a bunch of trails in a weekend. For Example- Indy, Blanca, Indy, BV, Indy, Minesweeper, Indy, Gold Camp, Indy, etc. We actually have a bunch of trails closer to us than most chapters.

I know Rising Sun has done the maintenance thing in the past, even with EXTREME support from a Toyota dealer. We could do something like that. I know some people just need access to tools, welder, plasma cutter, heated cooled with bathroom garage space, trailer etc. In a couple months when we start calling Pueblo West home, I could host such an event. Of course it would be much more fun after a run on Indy so we could fix everything we broke!

Another thing would be a local version of the "Cruiser Assistance Club", sort of a AAA thing ran by volunteers within the club (I volunteer), to help anyone who would need help with recovery, parts, maintenance etc. I know I always mention the club when I help someone get unstuck, take a nurse to work, change a flat, offroad recovery (Indy) etc. Of course Toyotas I see along the road (although that almost never happens!) get first priority. Of course this should be for members only so as to be a "perk" or incentive to join.

When I and some others first joined the club it was for mutual info, parts, maintenance sharing. Now it can be for that, plus. There are some in our area that are more involved than most of us are now in wheeling, and national events, but are not involved in the club. Maybe we could hit up those people, as well as past members who may be interested in re-joining with all the "new blood" we have.

If one or two people could take charge of different groups or committies (or trail groups) and then everyone else support we could do a lot for the club, TLCA and mankind in general.

In a couple years when I retire I will become much more involved, until then, I can gripe and complain and suggest all I want!

[LCPilot]

I like the suggestions and am ready to dive in on some of them. I guess that in the past we all knew that something needed to be done to increase membership and keep the cruiser spirit going. When you don't feel that you are the only one that is charging on, it sure makes you feel that you are doing the correct thing.

I've seen that Rising Sun and other clubs do get togethers for bearing packing parties or such. I know that it is too easy to put off things on the cruiser and do those other low prority items such as family, job or sleep.

I think that a couple of social events would help to get people out that may only have a couple of hours to spend and want to see others but can't commit the whole day to a trail run.

David

[SmittyNC]

CLC used them in the mid-90's as well, and they were well worth the money in regards to membership. (there's another hint, lol) Basically for $19 worth of cards there were 10 or more memberships.